What could cause a 35% drop in impressions in a few weeks?

[retrogamestoreau]

Since about mid Feburary I have noticed a significant decline in sales. I saw my impressions had dropped by 35% when compared to the prior month and I can not figure out why. Until now my number of impressions had been gradiually increasing month by month so this came as a surprise.

Is anyone else experiencing this? Has there been a change in the Best Match algorythm that I should be aware of? Any insight would be very much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Craig

[*tippy*toes*]

Welcome to the long list of sellers whose sales have dropped off. Read one of the many posts about the subject over the last few months. Lots and lots of sellers here have found themselves scratching their heads. You're not alone. You can probably thank the Chinese. They get priority on the best match thingy in most categories. I sell via auction, so the best match doesn't affect me as most auction buyers search by time ending soonest.

[phorum_junkie*]

My sales have dried up completely this week, not one thing sold since the 1st. Not just ebay, I have sold nothing on Gumtree or FB either. Local B&M stores are struggling, I have never seen so many empty parking spaces at my local shops in the 16 years I have been living here and the suburb has probably at least doubled in size. Even market stall holders are complaining about low sales so I don't think we can put all the blame on the Chinese. 

[clarry100]

Yes PJ we are also seeing / hearing what you say in our local area.
Last weekend we visited one of the better known markets in our region and observed for ourselves how quiet it was. We could park in places that are normally full.
We spoke with the operator of the kids bouncy castle and he said he is considering not going there any more. Not worth his time to set up.
Some friends also are regular sellers there and they are saying the same.
We also have friends who have owned/operated one of the better Chinese restaurants in our area for 20-years and they are saying it's barely worth their time to open the doors.
So I think it's across the board, not restricted to eBay. General lack of confidence globally. Or ppl cramming off their mortgages while interest rates are down and no spare cash to spend.

[collect247]

I don't think it's about having no spare cash to spend but rather not wanting to buy what's for sale.

Everyone I know has plenty of cash and just because something is up for sale doesn't mean I or anyone else is going

to rush out and buy it,people only buy what they really need or want and if you're selling what people don't want then you won't sell it.

[retrogamestoreau]

Thank you for the replies. It's kind of reassuring to know I'm not the only one experiencing this. It sounds like it could just be a phase that will pass... hopefully.

[digital*ghost]

Mid-February was when eBay store packages and fees changed, and that's when I also experienced a similar drop in sales, so there may be some issues surrounding that that's contributing, in addition to all the other issues that can affect sales (eg an influx of new listings affecting listing rankings and the like, I personally wasn't holding off on listing anything, but other sellers may have been in order to save on fees when the free ones increased). I often experience drops anyway, this seems to be lasting a little longer, but things are slowly creeping back to normal. Maybe site changes are affecting google searches as well. 

[phorum_junkie*]

The second half of Feb was better than the first half for me, Jan was reasonable. I have just sold my first item this month, never gone 6 days without a single sale anywhere before.

[clarry100]

We had a whole single sale today from all four of our selling venues.

We have experienced a ZERO day before this so not a record yet.

This time of year is normally the quietest, but never quite this low.

Last year this time we were seeing 6-10 per day.

[sloanranger62]

My 2 on-line businesses are way down in sales since early January.  I live in the Blue Mountains and have been told all retail is very poor at present and in particular womans clothing  IT IS THE WORST OF ALL.  In the Mountains we now have SLOW FASHION meaning you buy less & purchase second hand to help the planet which I fully support.  The lastest figures for Australian retail sales in womans fashion quote that new fashion has never been so cheap since records started.  I specialise in Vintage and that is not helping much at present.  Reading Boards based in New York some retail people are saying the world is suffering a retail recession after decades of mass consumerism and have had enough of cheap throw-away goods made to be obsolete.  In the case of antiques and vintage goods the sales depend on the item being in fashion.  I have noticed that fine old china is not highly sort after (even Wedgewood) presently and a topic on this subject was posted here 2 weeks ago asking what has happened with the low price of vintage china.